Health care: A broken system
Published: 2009-09-23 13:08:15
Author: Marissa Harshman | The News-Review | August 31, 2009
One area local officials agree is in need of attention is the ability to access care, which includes having health coverage and having doctors to see patients.
“I want everyone to have health care coverage, but you have to know that having health care coverage or health insurance doesn't mean you have access to health care,” Mullins said.
According to statistics compiled by the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 600,000 Oregonians do not have health insurance. Even if those hundreds of thousands of uninsured Oregonians receive health coverage, that doesn't mean there will be enough physicians to provide care for those people, said Mercy Medical Center's Chief Executive Officer Kelly Morgan.
Research has estimated that the country will have a shortage of 150,000 to 200,000 doctors by 2020, he said. In Douglas County, health officials are constantly struggling to recruit physicians to the area. One of the biggest barriers, Mullins said, is the low Medicare reimbursement rates in the state.
“We need to be able to reimburse our health care providers in the state of Oregon just as well as they do in other states because we have a shortage, particularly in the rural areas,” she said.
Full story
Published: 2009-09-23 13:08:15
Author: Marissa Harshman | The News-Review | August 31, 2009
Across the country, the debate
surrounding health care reform has evoked an array of emotions, from
anger and frustration to hope and optimism, and has captured the
attention of people from all walks of life.
Politicians, health care officials, physicians and concerned citizens from the East Coast to the West Coast are speaking out about the need, or lack thereof, for a revamped health care system.
Tempers have been tested in town hall meetings. The political livelihood of representatives has been threatened by unhappy constituents. And various interpretations of what proposed reform bills may or may not include have flooded television screens and newspapers.
Even with the varying views of how to best address the current state of health care, most local health officials and insurance company representatives seem to agree that the current system is broken and that change is needed.
“With several hundred thousand people without insurance in Oregon, it is affecting all of us,” said Linda Mullins, chief executive officer of Umpqua Community Health Center. “Their health suffers and society somehow or another helps in paying for it.”
Lack of access
Politicians, health care officials, physicians and concerned citizens from the East Coast to the West Coast are speaking out about the need, or lack thereof, for a revamped health care system.
Tempers have been tested in town hall meetings. The political livelihood of representatives has been threatened by unhappy constituents. And various interpretations of what proposed reform bills may or may not include have flooded television screens and newspapers.
Even with the varying views of how to best address the current state of health care, most local health officials and insurance company representatives seem to agree that the current system is broken and that change is needed.
“With several hundred thousand people without insurance in Oregon, it is affecting all of us,” said Linda Mullins, chief executive officer of Umpqua Community Health Center. “Their health suffers and society somehow or another helps in paying for it.”
One area local officials agree is in need of attention is the ability to access care, which includes having health coverage and having doctors to see patients.
“I want everyone to have health care coverage, but you have to know that having health care coverage or health insurance doesn't mean you have access to health care,” Mullins said.
According to statistics compiled by the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 600,000 Oregonians do not have health insurance. Even if those hundreds of thousands of uninsured Oregonians receive health coverage, that doesn't mean there will be enough physicians to provide care for those people, said Mercy Medical Center's Chief Executive Officer Kelly Morgan.
Research has estimated that the country will have a shortage of 150,000 to 200,000 doctors by 2020, he said. In Douglas County, health officials are constantly struggling to recruit physicians to the area. One of the biggest barriers, Mullins said, is the low Medicare reimbursement rates in the state.
“We need to be able to reimburse our health care providers in the state of Oregon just as well as they do in other states because we have a shortage, particularly in the rural areas,” she said.
Full story